by Raven Steele
My phone buzzed. I glanced down at the new message from Oz. Mateo is healed. As soon as he can move, we’re going to get out of here.
I typed back: Thank you and be careful.
I also sent Mateo a message, my heart pounding at the thought of him. You scared me. Contact me when you can.
Briar joined me in the living room, staring down at her own phone. “Luke wants to know if he should come over.”
“What do you want him to do?”
She pocketed her phone. “Not come over. This is our time.” She noticed the phone in my lap. “Have you heard from Oz?”
I nodded. “Mateo is doing better.”
She dropped onto my new sofa. “Angel is a miracle worker with that tongue of his.”
I grimaced. “He wouldn’t use his tongue on Mateo.” My eyebrows lifted. “Is that how he healed you?”
Her face reddened. “Maybe?”
“Whatever’s going on between you and him and you and Luke, you need to figure it out.”
“I already have. I’m with Luke. I love him.”
“What do you feel about Angel? Because it’s pretty obvious how he feels about you.”
She picked at her cuticles. “I can’t think about that.”
“Maybe you should, otherwise you might lose Angel for good. I’ve learned that the hard way.”
A long, weighted silence passed between us. It must’ve made her too uncomfortable because she changed the subject to something that made me just as uncomfortable.
“Mateo killing those humans was fucked up.”
“He did it to protect us,” I said, but even as the words left me, they felt hollow.
“The old Samira wouldn’t have thought that.”
I glared at her. “Did you come to argue or drink?”
She sighed. “You’re right. Where’s your booze? Or you probably have fancy stuff. Let’s drink that.”
Briar was right. I never bothered with cheap beer. I needed the strongest alcohol there was to feel its effects.
I don’t know if it was the Kiss in me urging me to be reckless and carefree, but suddenly that’s all I wanted to do. Drink and drink and drink until I wasn’t thinking about anything. Not Korin. Not Mateo. Not the Phoenix. And definitely not Faithe. Even if the effects were short lived, I needed it.
I retrieved two bottles from under my sink and set it down in front of Briar on the coffee table.
She picked one up, eyeing the label. “Spirytus Vodka? I’ve never tried this.”
“It’s made in Poland and is ninety-six percent alcohol.”
She looked up at me, her face sincere. “I love you, Sammie.”
For the next few hours, we drank both bottles until we could barely stand. I laughed harder than I had in a long time with Briar claiming the most ridiculous things, specifically about sex between her and Luke. Although, I’d only admit it to myself, I’d like to try a few of those crazy things with Mateo. Lots had been invented since Mateo and I had been together.
With the bottles empty and Briar resting her head in my lap, something I’d only allow drunk, our laughter died down.
Briar stared up at me. “I really am sorry about Faithe. I hope you know I have every intention of killing Korin because of what he did.”
“I want the pleasure of killing him.” I didn’t hide the pain and bitterness from my voice.
“I figured you’d say that.” She swallowed. “Just know that killing him won’t make your pain go away. You’ll still feel that crushing sensation whenever you close your eyes and see the faces of those you’ve lost.”
I didn’t say anything, only let the silence blanket us while the effects of the alcohol, no matter how strong, slowly left our supernatural bodies.
“Any more booze?” Briar asked, her voice tired.
“It’s all I had.”
“We could take the party back to Fire Ridge, if you want?”
“I’d like to stay here.”
“Me too. It’s peaceful here.”
And so we rested, both our eyes closed as we became lost in our own thoughts. Sunrise wasn’t for another few hours, but I had half a mind to just climb in my coffin and sleep for a very long time. It had been so long since I just rested.
An alarm, quiet but loud enough for both our ears, sounded. I sat up straight, knocking Briar to the floor.
She sat up on her elbows. “What is that?”
My heart raced because that sound only meant one thing. “Something bad is about to happen.”
Chapter 18
I stood, pulled on my long jacket, and hurried into the bedroom that held my security equipment. Three screens showed different camera angles. One positioned just outside the elevator in the parking garage, one at the main elevator that was rarely, if ever, used by guests, and one just outside my door.
“The alarm goes off before—” I pointed at the third screen when I saw movement. “There!”
Three men were at my private elevator, all holding guns.
“Who knows about this place?” Briar asked over my shoulder.
“Not many.”
“Does Korin?”
I thought about this. “Probably.”
She looked at me. “Shit! Someone at the college must’ve recognized you and told Korin. They don’t know your password, right?” Briar leaned closer to the screen, watching as they pressed buttons into the keypad.
“Of course not.”
After a few minutes of them trying, one of them ripped off the keypad panel and began to mess with the wires. Eventually, one of them made the right connection and the elevator door opened.
“Are they vampires?” she asked, staring at the screen with concern.
“I think so, but I don’t recognize them.”
“Look!” Briar pointed at another screen showing a view of inside the hotel’s lobby. Similar-looking men had arrived at that elevator. I only had to assume they were also headed my way. Where was my staff? I had hired and trained a few humans on each shift to call me if they saw anyone suspicious.
I pressed a button making the camera in the lobby rotate outward. I sucked in a breath when I spotted two people lying on the ground covered in blood. Another one of my staff was kneeling next to them while speaking into a cell phone. Probably calling the police.
“This is bad, Sammie. I’ve counted eleven so far, and there’s still more coming up soon on your private elevator. And did you see that?” She pointed to one of them crammed into the small elevator. “That chick just popped her shoulder like she was adjusting her bones or something. I think we’re about to get swarmed with vampire Hydes.”
“We need weapons.” I spun around to the closet with Briar on my heels. We both loaded up quickly. I shoved all kinds of blades and even a gun into my jacket and onto my belt. Long swords were the last to be positioned on my back. I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath, trying to expel the last of the effects of alcohol in my system. It probably wasn’t the best decision drinking on a night when I suspected Korin might come after me.
Someone pounded on my door, making Briar jump.
“Tell me that door is made of steel,” Briar said.
“The strongest door money can buy.” I returned to the security feed. So far, seven Hydes stood behind my door. One of them removed a gun and fired several times into the door. It didn’t budge.
Briar came up behind me, sheathing a dagger into her belt, her breathing harsh. “Do you think it will hold?”
“For a little awhile.” Just as I said it, two of them began punching the door, leaving huge dents.
“Follow me.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the secret door in the back bedroom, glad I had thought to check it earlier. The loud banging persisted.
“Where are we going?” She kept glancing behind her.
I pushed aside a large dresser in front of the hidden entrance and pressed into the wall until I heard it click. The wall opened wide. “Go.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of cours
e you have a secret getaway.”
Just as she stepped through, my front door exploded open. I shoved Briar forward and closed the wall behind us. “Run!”
She sprinted down the steps with me close behind. “Couldn’t you have installed a secret elevator? I’m still half drunk!” Just as she said it, she stumbled, but caught herself on the rail.
“Call for backup,” I gasped.
“My phone is upstairs!”
“You left it?”
“I dropped it. Drunk, remember? Where’s yours?”
I paused. “Upstairs. My mind isn’t quite right yet.”
“So two drunk women running from a hoard of ragey vampires. Awesome.”
“Use your connection with Angel,” I breathed, trying to focus all my senses. My hearing and smell still felt muted.
“I’ll try.”
We were almost to the bottom when we heard the wall above us crash open. Guns fired and bullets rained down. One grazed my shoulder. “Turn to the right!”
Briar obeyed, reaching the end. “What now?”
I rammed my shoulder into the next hidden door, and it flew open. “Straight ahead and to your left.”
Glancing behind me, the sound of what easily could’ve been dozens of footsteps descended upon us. They were getting closer. I turned and caught Briar limping.
I caught up to her. “What happened to your leg?”
“Bullet got me. Silver.”
“Shit.”
“You’re cussing now?”
“Now’s not the time to question my vocabulary. They’re gaining on us.” I reached the back wall deep within the darkness and opened it for Briar. She hobbled past me. I closed the door. It wouldn’t take them long to find this place, but hopefully we’d have enough time to at least reach the graveyard where we’d have a better chance of getting away.
“This really hurts,” Briar breathed, her voice dripping with pain. “More than usual.”
“Just keep going. We’ll fix it soon.” I grabbed her arm and wrapped it around my shoulder to help her walk. Without any kind of light, the darkness was all-consuming. Even my night vision struggled to see through such heavy blackness.
We were making great progress when Briar fell forward. I barely managed to catch her before she smacked her head on the ground.
“What the hell did they shoot me with?” she said, the words breathy like she was struggling to stay conscious.
I risked a quick second to look at her thigh. I tore off the material around the angry wound. All veins around it had nearly turned black. I’d seen it a few times before. “They didn’t just shoot you with silver bullets, but bullets dipped in silver nitrate, too. They are much more potent.”
“Fabulous.”
I glance down the tunnel. We had maybe another seventy-five yards. “We can make it.”
She grabbed onto me for support as I lifted her back up. She leaned her whole body into me for support, slowing our progress.
“I’m going to pick you up. It will be easier.” Just as I said it, I heard the Hydes breach the tunnels. More gunfire had me diving us both into a side tunnel to our left, a dead end if we were to keep following it.
Letting go of Briar, I withdrew my gun and fired back at them. “I’ll hold them off. You keep going straight!”
I couldn’t hear her response as several weapons exploded in my direction. One of the Hydes had a much bigger gun than my little pistol. I couldn’t keep this up for long. When their shooting stopped, I fired back, risking a quick glance down the hall. The glowing eyes of several Hydes were moving toward me, unfazed by the bullets I’d shot in their direction. Lights attached to their guns had been turned on and spilled a faded yellow across the tunnel floors.
I turned to see how far Briar had gotten but didn’t see her. “Briar?”
I looked the other way. Briar was limping and was already half way down the tunnel we’d sidestepped into. “What are you doing?” I called. “I said go straight!”
“I am going straight!”
“Straight the way we were going! That’s a dead end!”
She stopped moving and cursed, her face pale. “Women really are the worst at directions.” She slumped to the floor, her head lobbing back against the dirt walls.
“Stay awake!” I yelled at her. I couldn’t lose her, not so soon after losing Faithe. It would shatter me.
Deep within me, I felt the Kiss’s excitement. It wanted to fight, kill, and maim. It wanted blood. I could fully unleash it here and now, instead of just using small extensions of its darkness, but I feared if I did, it might kill Briar too, just to devour the crushing sadness her death would cause me.
“I’m trying, Sammie.” Briar’s words barely reached my ears.
I darted back to her but just as I reached her, light flooded the narrow space. The dark silhouettes of several Hydes blocked our only exit.
Time was up.
I straightened and faced them, removing the swords on my back. Releasing the Kiss was the only option at this point. I just hoped I was mentally strong enough to stop it from killing Briar, too.
A tall male Hyde detached himself from the others. “We’ve come to take you back to Winter’s Cove on Korin’s orders.”
“If I come with you, will you leave her alone?” I motioned toward Briar.
“Korin said we can kill her if we want. And we want.” Several Hydes behind him hissed and growled in agreement.
“You’ll have to get through me first.” I sliced my sword through the air to accentuate my point. They were unimpressed. “Korin won’t be too happy if you kill me, and I’m fairly certain you can’t contain me.”
“We will try.” The horde moved toward me, slowly and methodically.
The space in this tunnel was wider than the others, allowing them to walk four men shoulder-to-shoulder toward me. From what I could tell, their lines ran six deep, which meant I was about to take on two dozen Hyde vampires alone. Maybe I could do that without releasing the Kiss, but if I was wrong, Briar could end up dead. Either way she could end up dead.
“You can’t win,” the Hyde spoke again.
I opened my mouth to speak when another voice echoed in the narrow space.
“Maybe not alone, but she sure as hell can with me.”
The Hydes turned around, opening their lines just enough for me to see who had come to our rescue.
Aris Crow.
Chapter 19
At the sight of my friend, Coast City’s vampire protector, a surge of new energy raced through me. I lunged forward into the Hydes, swiping my blade through the closest one’s neck. Before its head hit the floor, I was onto the next. I jabbed one sword forward, while I used its twin to decapitate another Hyde.
“Why aren’t they dying, Samira?” Aris called.
“Slice off their heads or hit their brains!” I couldn’t see him over the crowd of Hydes who had divided their attention between us, but I could hear his grunts and the sounds of battle.
“Why are they so strong?”
“Long story. Kill now, explain later.”
“Got it.”
The blade of one of the female Hydes sliced through my shoulder. Somehow, she’d gotten behind me. A burning pain racked my side, but I ducked just as she swung again. This only earned a foot into my side as another Hyde kicked me. I flew backwards, but managed to rotate myself so I landed facing them.
“We’ve got company!” Aris called.
I couldn’t see who he was talking about but I heard a voice that warmed me to the core. “We’re here, Samira.”
My heart nearly stopped. Mateo. He was okay. I released a small sob as I removed another head. Briar’s call to Angel must’ve worked, and they had come.
“They’re with us,” I called back. Another Hyde head fell by my hands.
With the addition of Mateo and Angel, we made quick work of the Hydes. With only a few left, the tricky part of fighting became trying not to stumble over all the dead bodies and heads.
“Samira,” Mateo breathed.
My head snapped his direction. He was leaning against the wall, his chest heaving up and down. I hurried to him. “You’re weak.”
“I’m alive.” He pulled me into his arms and held me as if I might slip away. I did the same to him. “Something has to change. I can’t rely on Angel to know when you might be in trouble. Our blood bond faded too long ago. It’s time, Samira. We need to renew it.”
I nodded, silently agreeing.
Aris cleared his throat behind me, reminding me we needed more privacy for this conversation. “Where’s Oz?”
Mateo turned towards him. “Who are you?”
“Aris.” Aris held his hand out. His hair was longer on top, and he wore a short beard. It made him look much older than a young man in his early twenties. “Samira asked me to come.”
I tried to take a step back, but Mateo’s hand on my side tightened. His expression darkened. “You called him?”
I groaned. “Two weeks ago. He just got here.” I turned towards Aris. “Mateo, this is Aris Crow. He’s the vampire who’s going to help you with Korin’s compulsion.”
Mateo’s grip on me loosened only slightly, but he clasped Aris’ still-outstretched hand. “Thank you for coming. As for your friend Oz, we dropped him off at the Blutel Estate. He was pretty shaken up after what happened earlier tonight.”
Aris’s body tensed. “What happened?”
Mateo looked at me, his expression serious. “He saved my life. A human saved a vampire.”